Scott No: 487-489
Serial number: C74
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: January 25, 1960
Denomination: 22 fen
Designer: Zhang Yangxi, Zhuang Ziman, Wu Jiankun
Engraver: Wu Jiankun
Size of stamps: 36*25.5mm
Perforation: 11*11.5
Sheet composition: 50(5*10)
Printing process:
Engraving and photogravure for Value 1, 3;
Photogravure for Value 2
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on January 25, 1960, this commemorative set consists of three stamps, designed by Wu Jiankun and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory, with gum applied to the reverse of every stamp. All stamps share the same size of 36mm × 25.5mm, perforated 11 × 11.5 degrees. A full sheet contains 50 stamps arranged in a 5 × 10 format, and the total face value of the set is ¥0.22. Individual print runs: Site of the Zunyi Conference, 4 fen, 5 million copies; Advance Forever Victoriously Under the Banner of Mao Zedong, 8 fen, 10 million copies; Forcing the Jinsha River, 10 fen, 3 million copies. This set was the first issue commemorating the Zunyi Conference, and it is also one of the early commemorative sets of New China that combined two printing techniques, recess engraving and photogravure.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Site of the Zunyi Conference

The stamp shows the exterior of the site of the Zunyi Conference, a two-storey building blending Chinese and Western architectural styles, with large trees before the courtyard and faint hills in the distance. It is rendered in a single pale blue tone, with clean, firm engraved lines. In January 1935, an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee convened in this building. The meeting corrected the erroneous military line of the earlier period and re-established Mao Zedong’s leading position in the Party Central Committee and the Red Army, thereby saving the Party, the Red Army and the Chinese revolution at a critical juncture; it was a turning point of vital importance in the history of the Chinese revolution. This stamp captures the actual building where that great turning point took place.

Advance Forever Victoriously Under the Banner of Mao Zedong

The design sets countless red flags against a vast expanse of sky and cloud, with Mao Zedong raising his hand forward amid a sea of red banners in a magnificent scene. The stamp conveys that, after the Zunyi Conference and under the guidance of the correct line, the Red Army and the revolutionary forces regrouped and set out on the road to victory, symbolising the change in the course of the revolution. Printed by photogravure, this stamp achieves soft gradations of colour that heighten the grandeur and fervour of the scene.

Forcing the Jinsha River

The original artwork was taken from an oil painting by Zhang Yangxi and Zhuang Ziman. It depicts Red Army soldiers crossing the turbulent Jinsha River in wooden boats, with steep mountains on both banks and raging torrents, the troops advancing bravely against the current. After the Zunyi Conference, the Central Red Army crossed the Chishui River four times and then skilfully forced the Jinsha River, breaking out of the encirclement of Kuomintang forces and securing a victory of decisive significance in the strategic transfer, which laid the foundation for continuing northward and completing the Long March. The strong, vigorous engraved lines of this stamp are devoted to expressing this daring strategic breakout.

Artistic Design Features

All three stamps share a uniform vertical format, and the narrative advances step by step: the first records the place where the turning point occurred, the second symbolises the establishment of the correct line, and the third presents the key military victory won after the turning point. Together they link the historical significance of the Zunyi Conference with its subsequent achievements. The combination of production techniques is particularly distinctive: the first and last stamps are recess-engraved, whose crisp, weighty lines suit architecture and battle scenes, while the middle stamp uses photogravure, which excels at rendering grand chromatic atmosphere. The three stamps are clearly differentiated in tone, with blue, red and deep green arranged in sequence, dignified and full of strength.